Woman loses hot tea lawsuit against Starbucks

[Kaleredar]

Duh, everyone knows that the real America is the U. S.

Canada and anything south of the U. S. border are all just fake America. /sarcasm.

No single individual living in North or South America ever means anything other than "the United States" when they say "America."

Like how "Americans" means "residents of the United States," not "residents of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Trinidad, Tobago, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Argentina, French Guiana, Chile, etc, etc..."



Though the number of people automatically assuming this took place in the US in this thread is genuinely amusing, because it means people didn't read anything past the title before posting.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Beyond whether or not the woman was trying to file a fraudulent lawsuit....I think it's perfectly plausible that the lid wasn't fastened correctly. How many millions of drinks are made per day by minimum wage Starbucks employees, and you're trying to tell me that they've had not one fuckup in the lid department? Please. I'm pretty sure *I personally* have gotten a coffee with a lid not properly secured by Starbucks in the past. I just don't end up with second and third degree burns, because I don't drink hot beverages while driving.

Isn't it just as plausible that she could have squeezed her legs when coming to a stop, popping the lid up in doing so?

[Ahovv]

The problem is, unless there is photo evidence of the cup being defective, you can't prove either sides story.

In the McDonalds case, it was proven that the coffee machine was in fact set way too high. In this one, they have automated machines which help them in such law suits. As for the cup, as I said above, it can't be proven unless you had it all on video, or in pictures.

I'm pretty sure in the McDonald's case, they were using temperatures fairly standard within the industry. However, after the case nearly all fast food companies lowered their temperature to avoid losing in court.

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If medical records prove she got burned, she got burned. Whether or not it was genuinely an accident or she did it on purpose should be what's up to question here. If I buy a product and am genuinely injured from it, you can expect I would like (at the very least) payment for the medical treatments I had to get.

I dunno if you know this Ace, but here in the States, going to the hospital is bankruptcy-worthy expensive.

Your logic is questionable, to say the least.

If I have an accident in the kitchen after buying a sharp knife, should I sue the knife manufacturer? Fuck no. Don't be a fool.

[Celista]

Isn't it just as plausible that she could have squeezed her legs when coming to a stop, popping the lid up in doing so?

Yeah, sure. A million different things could have happened.

Some level of personal responsibility should be discussed in these cases. One of the first things I do when I buy coffee somewhere is make sure the lid is on properly. I also don't drink hot beverages in the car.

But, Starbucks sells its hot beverages via drive thrus. I personally don't think it's a good idea, but then again I would like to think that most people past the age of 4 understand that hot beverages are hot and they should be handled carefully.

[Crissi]

I remember having hot chocolate spilled all over me during a hand off. Man, that shit hurts.

Probably should have confronted them over it considering the employee squeezed the cup too hard, poped the top off then subsequently spilled over my arm and lap, but meh...

so it depends on what the employee did. If the employee checked to make sure the lid was secure, was not responsible for the lid poping off, and the liquid was within acceptable temp range spost McD verdict, then not much can be done other than to get over it

[skitzin]

I am glad to see a court make a strong distinction for where the responsibilities of a company selling you a product ends and where your own responsibility begins. As a few people have pointed out that simply because you bought something from company "X" doesn't mean company "X" is automatically responsible for accidents caused by yourself.

[Self Inflicted Wounds]

Yeah, sure. A million different things could have happened.

Some level of personal responsibility should be discussed in these cases. One of the first things I do when I buy coffee somewhere is make sure the lid is on properly. I also don't drink hot beverages in the car.

But, Starbucks sells its hot beverages via drive thrus. I personally don't think it's a good idea, but then again I would like to think that most people past the age of 4 understand that hot beverages are hot and they should be handled carefully.

I dunno, even if they weren't sold in a drive thru, someone could just buy them inside and walk to their car ad drive away.

Thats why I'm always pretty skeptical in these cases. Even if the lid was applied incorrectly, she probably would have noticed before that.

[ChampionChains]

On one hand, be careful when you order a hot drink. On the other, don't sell a product meant for human consumption so hot that it'll melt flesh.

I worked at a coffee shop when I was younger and we had a guy from the bookstore next door who would come get a latte everyday and request that it be steamed to 200 degrees. We informed him that milk burns at 180 degrees, but he always insisted on drinking scorched milk.

[Super Kami Dende]

>Mother hits brakes.
>Daughter squeezes tighter to hold Cup
>Squeezing the Cup causes lid to pop off
>Hot water sloshes on her hand
>She panics and drops the Cup onto Lap

Its nice to see a Judge basically tell someone, "You fucked up yourself"

[Thetruth1400]

America, the country of lawsuits. Ultimately, the woman may be in the right but with only he-said-she-said the case is (and should) be dropped.

Oh the stupidity. This took place in B.C. AKA British Columbia Canada.

Get your head out of your ass.

On one hand, be careful when you order a hot drink. On the other, don't sell a product meant for human consumption so hot that it'll melt flesh.

We're talking hot beverages here, they're almost always 160 - 185 degrees.

Yes, they will burn, but that's an inherent risk of the product. Any colder and you're drinking water that had beans sitting in it, that's it. Those temperatures are needed for the flavor.

[kail]

It wasn't even in America. Way to not read the thread. Wow!

I did not tbh. I'm curious how the case would be if it were in the U.S.

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Oh the stupidity. This took place in B.C. AKA British Columbia Canada.

Get your head out of your ass.

/raises hand

I typed that comment from a smartphone, only skimmed the middle bolded spots. Not sure if my comment insulted anyone, so sue me.

LOL someone flunked geography.

No I did assume it was in the U.S.

[Themius]

McDonalds has never lowered the temperature of their coffee, it's still as dangerous as it ever was. What they did was to put the words "dangerous hot!" on the Styrofoam cup.

They had faulty cups... with lids prone to coming off, they had to change the design of the cup.

It's interesting to also note they had hundreds to thousands of complaints because of these faulty lids and they paid out time and time again.

[The Stormbringer]

I'm pretty sure in the McDonald's case, they were using temperatures fairly standard within the industry. However, after the case nearly all fast food companies lowered their temperature to avoid losing in court.

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Your logic is questionable, to say the least.

If I have an accident in the kitchen after buying a sharp knife, should I sue the knife manufacturer? Fuck no. Don't be a fool.

No, but if the knife handle broke because it was shoddy and that's what caused you to be cut, you'd have more of a case.

[YourExWife]

Sad story but, then again, I've ran into some pretty fucking savage people in retail.

I worked at Starbucks last summer so I could save up enough for an education in massage therapy (Thai, specifically) and that was when I encountered one of the worst customers ever. He went off on me because we had run out of the crunchy sugar topping for the Caramel Ribbon Crunch, so I asked if I could get him a Latte Cappucino instead, to which he reluctantly agreed.

The moment I served his cup, he went HYSTERICAL. Called me a fag, told me that he was going to take his claim to my boss, then he walked behind the counter and poured the entirety of his hot latte all over my face!

This kind of nutty behavior is not even that uncommon, so I'm not surprised to see the judge toss that one out.

[Annoying]

Do people still believe this non-sense?

In the case of McDonalds the coffee machine was defective and was serving the coffee at something like 120+ degrees.

Entirely false. It was 180-190 degrees, and it was intentionally set that high.

McDonalds literally admitted it was done intentionally and that they required all of their franchises to serve it at 180-190. And they admitted that it was unsafe -- citing that food or drink over 130F would burn anyone if even consumed at that temperature (much less spilled), trying to convince the jury that all food was a burn hazard.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Frankly, this whole carry your hot beaverage around with you trend that started with coffe junkies and now extends to the tea drinkers makes me have very little symphathy with the woman. This is the inherent danger of carrying around a hot liquid. Just consume your food and drink in the appropriate setting..

[TITAN308]

Entirely false. It was 180-190 degrees, and it was intentionally set that high.

McDonalds literally admitted it was done intentionally and that they required all of their franchises to serve it at 180-190. And they admitted that it was unsafe -- citing that food or drink over 130F would burn anyone if even consumed at that temperature (much less spilled), trying to convince the jury that all food was a burn hazard.

Interesting. My memory was off. As I recalled the machine was malfunctioning and they knew about it, but never heard it was intentional. wow

[Ahovv]

Entirely false. It was 180-190 degrees, and it was intentionally set that high.

McDonalds literally admitted it was done intentionally and that they required all of their franchises to serve it at 180-190. And they admitted that it was unsafe -- citing that food or drink over 130F would burn anyone if even consumed at that temperature (much less spilled), trying to convince the jury that all food was a burn hazard.

And yet drinks are still served well over 130. You want to make the current temperatures illegal?

[Vash The Stampede]

Obvious this is trying to mimic the McDonalds coffee lawsuit, but there was a lot more to that lawsuit than you think.

[Deleted]

I am happy that stupidity of people cant win all the time. If she spilled hot tea its her fault.

It's like suing manufacturer of hammer for hitting you into finger while trying to hit a nail.